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The Daily Dose/April 29, 2010
By Gaylon Kent
The Writer's Shack
Notes from around the Human Experience...
Editor's Note: The Writer's Shack continues it's season-long tour of the major league record book, leading off with one of our favorite records.
PLAY BALL: Then oldest record in the major league record book was established on this date in 1876 when John Carbine of the Louisville Grays made five errors, establishing the mark for Most Errors, Game, First Baseman.
Oh Yeah: The mark was set in a 6-2 loss to the St. Louis Brown Stockings.
The History Channel: These were the earliest days of the National League. It had played its first game on April 22 when the Boston Red Stockings defeated the Philadelphia Athletics 7-6 and, depending on when the three games on April 29, 1876 started, Carbine established his mark in either the ninth, tenth or eleventh game in National League history.
Warning! This is not the most awe-inspiring record in the history of baseball. It's not even particularly rare. It was equaled twice more in 1876 and has been done a total of eight times, the last time in 1884.
It's not even a particularly relevant record anymore because baseball back then bore only a passing resemblance to the game today. Carbine, for example, may well have played his position without a glove, or with one that was designed to protect the hand more than it was to assist with the actually catching of the ball.
Get Your Official Writer's Shack Policy Right Here: Still though, it's one of our all-time fave records because it is the oldest. We looked it up ourselves.
Dry, Technical Matter: The modern major league record for Most Errors, Game, First Baseman, is four, done several times in both leagues, the last time by Todd 'Hands' Zeile in 1996.
Uh-Oh: Carbine was a double threat, too. Not only could he not catch or throw the baseball, he couldn't hit it either, batting just .160 in his brief stint with the Grays, Carbine was out of the big leagues in a matter of weeks, playing his last game on June 1.
Big Picture: Probably because they hired players like Carbine, the Grays weren't any good either. The loss to St. Louis moved them to 0-3 on the year, although the Grays probably took some comfort in scoring their first two runs of the season following opening the season with 10-0 and 4-0 losses to Chicago.
FunFact: Although they are now known as the Cubs, back then the Chicago team was known as the White Stockings.
Flying Colors: Colors were big parts of team names back then. Also in the National League were the Hartford Blues, and the Cincinnati Red Stockings. Besides the Athletics, the New York Mutuals were the only National League team without a color in their name.
The End Of An Era: The Grays would be out of the National League following the 1877 season, where several of their players were suspended for life for throwing games.
Rocket's Red Glare: Roger Clemens becomes the first person to strike out 20 batters in a nine-inning game, striking out 20 Seattle Mariners on this date in 1986.
Mowing Them Down: Every Mariner starter struck out at least once. Clemens got Phil Bradley four times and Ken Phelps, Ivan Calderon and Dave Henderson three times each.
Clemens broke the nine-inning major league record by striking out number 20, Bradley, for the second out in the ninth.
Still Some Work To Do: There was one more record to tie though. In 1962, Tom Cheney of the Washington Senators struck out 21 batters in a 16-inning game but Clemens missed tying this record when Phelps grounded out to end the game.
Don't Put Those History Books Down Yet: Clemens is one of the very few players who is in the major league record book twice for the same mark, striking out 20 Detroit Tigers in September, 1996. This record would be equaled by Chicago's Kerry Wood in 1998 and more or less equaled by Randy Johnson in 2001, who struck out 20 in the first nine-innings of an eleven-inning game.
Editor's Note II: This concludes today's visit with the major league record book. We now return you to the regularly scheduled On This Date feature!
THOSE ZANY MUSLIMS: On this date in 711 Moorish troops land at Gibraltar to begin an invasion of the Iberian Peninsula. Over the course of the next eight years most of what is now Spain and Portugal was brought under Muslim control, control that wasn't relinquished until the 13th century.
Oh, What The Hell: The Maryland House of Delegates votes not to secede from the Union on this date in 1861. Not every Marylander was on board with this move, however, and about 25,000 Maryland residents end up fighting for the Confederacy.
Not Anyone's Oldsmobile Anymore: The last Oldsmobile, an Alero, is produced on this date in 2004 in Lansing, Michigan. Olds Motor Works had been founded in Lansing by Ransom E. Olds in 1897 and in 1902 Olds was the first car manufacturer to utilize the assembly line.
Never Again: Germany's Dachau concentration camp is liberated on this date in 1945. American troops found about 32,000 prisoners most whose only crime was being Jewish. Over 1,500 prisoners were crammed into barracks designed to hold 250 people. Some American soldiers, horrified by what they saw, actually executed assorted German guards. The Army investigated the incident but General George Patton dismissed the charges.
Thought For The Day: But the best luck always happens to those who don't need it. - Robert Penn Warren, All The King's Men.
Answer To The Last Trivia Question: Before the Dallas Mavericks joined the NBA in 1980, the last the NBA added teams was in 1976 when four teams from the American Basketball Association - the Denver Nuggets, New York Nets, San Antonio Spurs and Indiana Pacers - joined the league.
Today's Stumper: Who is the only major league player besides Roger Clemens to strike 19 or more batters in a game more than once? - Answer next time!
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